The temperature is rising

- and by that I am not only referring to the fact that it looks very much like spring in Vancouver these days. 10 days to go until the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and the crab-apple tree in our front yard is almost in bloom. 10 days to go and there is barely any snow on Cypress Mountain. 10 days to go until the world will get introduced to a Canada that most definitely does not fit the stereotypical image of a cold, snowy country up north.

Yes, the temperature definitely is rising, both literally and figuratively - it is starting to dawn on us that the Olympics are finally here. 6 1/2 years ago, when Jaques Rogge made the announcement that awarded the 21st Winter Games to ¨the city of .... Vancouver¨, and during all the years of preparations following, February 12, 2010, seemed so far away. Hard to believe that as of tomorrow we are actually down to single digits on the count-down clock.

These days everything that is said or done seem to have one thing or another to do with the Olympics. The weather reports. The traffic updates. The lack of parking in Whistler. Olympic buses and other vehicles everywhere (dang, there sure are a lot of those Acadias around!). Red mittens and Canada flags. The mass exodus of locals heading for sunnier shores. It's here. It is all that we expected and much that we didn't.

In two days I start my own Olympic experience. I will be working as an assistant to one of the National Olympic Committees (guess which one ; ) and I can't express how excited I am to finally being able to put on my blue jacket and be a part of this once in a life-time event! The Olympics are coming to my own back-yard. How wild is that?